The history of Middle-Earth (chibi version): Part 30: Cursing the darkness

Incidentally, according to 'The Book of Lost Tales' Manwë and Varda do have an actual palace on top of Taniquetil, with blue and white marble walls and a watchtower. They don't just stand on the mountain peak all day long. :)

Part 30: Cursing the darkness

Next time: Part 31: Lighting a candle

Chibis by tektek.org

Original story by and copyright to J R R Tolkien, ed. C Tolkien: Primarily based on the Silmarillion, but incorporating ideas from the 12-volume History of Middle Earth series.

Afraid not, because I've already spent several weeks on a four-page chapter of the book and wanted to move on. Varda and Manwë's conversation in the first panel here is there to summarise the last few paragraphs of Chapter Two, rather than give an entire strip to wrapping things up.

I might have Yavanna and Aulë teasing each other about eagles and dwarves later on, though, if it fits, as a background conversation.

Re-reading the Silmarillion and Book of Lost Tales in order to create these, I was actually surprised and impressed by how proactive Yavanna really is. I hadn't realised just how much it's her who drives things forward after Melkor breaks the Lamps.

She's always the loudest voice calling for retaliation against Melkor; the Two Trees were her idea; she's the Vala who spends most time returning to Middle-earth in secret to resist Melkor's destructiveness.

I wanted to portray Varda in a sympathetic light too - since she's the Elves' favourite Vala she must have a lot going for her - but until this point she's been fairly passive. That's why I went with the idea that she was in shock for a long time after the Lamps were destroyed. Here in today's comic she's feeling a little guilty that Yavanna has been doing more to help Middle-earth than she has, which finally pushes her into action.